## Facts

- Carl and Wyetta Hartman purchased a mobile home from Jensen’s, Inc., a retailer of manufactured homes.
- The mobile home was manufactured by Standard Coach Sales, Inc.
- After the sale, the Hartmans experienced defects in the mobile home and sought damages.
- The Hartmans sued Jensen’s and Standard Coach alleging negligence and breach of express and implied warranties.
- By consent, the case was referred to a special referee to hear evidence and report findings of fact and conclusions of law.
- The special referee found breach of express and implied warranties and awarded damages; the trial judge affirmed.
- The sales contract contained a “Terms of Warranty” provision that purported to disclaim implied warranties, but it did not bar liability.

## Issues

1. Whether the order of reference to a special referee and the damages award were erroneous.
2. Whether Jensen’s agency defense was improperly resolved on demurrer.
3. Whether Jensen’s, as the retailer, granted or was subject to express or implied warranties, including implied warranty of fitness under the UCC, and whether any disclaimer effectively excluded those warranties.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed the judgment for the Hartmans.
- Challenges to the order of reference, damages, and the agency-defense ruling were dismissed as without merit.
- The court held the record supported Jensen’s liability for breach of an implied warranty, making it unnecessary to decide whether an express warranty existed.
- The court treated Jensen’s as a merchant seller and upheld findings imposing implied-warranty liability despite the contract’s attempted disclaimer.

## Legal Principles

- In a law case, factual findings by a referee (or jury), as affirmed by the trial court, are binding on appeal if supported by any competent evidence.
- A retailer who is a merchant with respect to goods of that kind gives an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose unless properly excluded or modified under the UCC.
- Liability for breach of implied warranty may be sustained without reaching disputed questions about an alleged express warranty when the implied-warranty findings are supported by the record.
- Warranty disclaimers are ineffective unless they satisfy statutory requirements for exclusion or modification of implied warranties.

## Conclusion

The court upheld damages against both the manufacturer and the retailer, concluding that the retailer, as a merchant seller of manufactured homes, was liable for breach of UCC implied warranty where competent evidence supported defects and the attempted disclaimer did not validly exclude implied warranties.


Hartman v. Jensen’s, Inc., 277 S.C. 501, 289 S.E.2d 648 (S.C. 1982)